Interview and analysis: Shereif Kholeif – GUSA President

In a tight three-way race for GUSA President, Shereif Kholeif is pulling out all the stops on social media to defeat incumbent Paddy Everingham.

He’s been described to The Glasgow Guardian as the “king of social media” and he is undeniably at home in front of a camera.

Kholeif’s manifesto conveys the confidence that he has in his ability to usurp the sitting president and this came across in his interview too.

His initiatives seem more geared to engaging with current GUSA members as opposed to unaffiliated students. While he promises to oppose increases to membership fees and to look into different packages to reduce costs for single-term members, there is not a lot to get students outside of GUSA involved with the body. Building stronger links within GUSA as opposed to trying to bring in outside students, however, might be a better way to improve GUSA’s engagement and build its profile on campus.

Kholeif’s proposed traffic light system for the Stevenson Building is another encouraging policy and one he seems confident he can implement which would be good news for students with autism or sensory sensitivities.

Kholeif comes across as a qualified and confident candidate who is competent enough to fulfill the promises he makes in his manifesto. This race is too close to call, but if Kholeif’s interview performance is anything to go by, he stands a good chance of winning.